Portable evaporating-closet.



PATENTED JULY 5, 1904.

F. P. SMITH.

PORTABLE EVAPORATING CLOSET.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 2. 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

FIIIIIIIIFI l l l I ll .rll lllllll rlll WITNESSES No. 764,261. PATENTED JULY 5, 190

P. P. SMITH. PORTABLE EVAPORATING CLOSET. APPLICATION FILED APR. 2. 1903.

N0 MODEL 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

v far/J4 .l iliiii iii 'l' llll WITN%D UNITED STATES Patented July 5. 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

FRED P. SMITI-I, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE MUNICIPAL ENGINEERING COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

PORTABLE EVAPORATlNG-CLOSET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 764,261, dated July 5, 1904.

Applicati fil d April 2, 1903. $erial No. 150,683. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRED P. SMITH, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Portable Evaporating-Closets, of which the following is a full description.

The object of the invention is to provide a portable dry closet adapted for use with circus or other traveling companies, exhibitiongrounds, construction -gangs, ball grounds, camp-meetings, temporary army-camps, and other places where a portable latrine may be useful, and to construct it to be fitted up, taken down, and removed from place to place, as desired, and to provide it with perfect sanitary conditions in the sterilizationby heat and removal by fire of excreta, garbage, and refuse matter, and capable of being kept clean and odorless, being simple, effective, economical, and fly-proof, and without imparting bad odors or noxious gases to the surrounding air.

In another application, Serial No. 150,684. for an evaporating excretal closet, filed April 2, 1903, I have shown and described a stationary apparatus having many of the features of the present application.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention, of which Figure 1 is a plan of the interior of the device; Fig. 2, alongitudinal section of the same; Fig. 3, a lateral section with the parts in position ready-for use; Fig. 4, a lateral section with the parts folded up ready for transportation; Fig. 5, a plan of the parts shown in Fig. 4.

The apparatus in its entirety is mounted upon an ordinary truck or wagon body 1 1. It consists of a tank or receptacle 2, of any suitable material, form, or shape to answer the requirements. This receptacle may be provided with an opening or as many openings 3 as may be suitable for the purposes required. These openings are closed by closet hoppers or seats 4, each provided with a hinged top or lid 5, as is usual in the case of ordinary closets.

The hoppers or seats are punctured with small holes 6, usually covered with gauze or other material which will permit the entrance of air drawn therethrough by the interior draft, but prevents the entrance of flies to carry off the germs of disease.

Within the receptacle are located the operating devices and mechanisms for receivin the solid and liquid matter and evaporating, desiccating, and burning the same, which may be described as follows: Just below the hopper or seat is placed a hinged catch-pan 7 the free end of which is suspended and held by a chain 8 or other suitabledevice for the purpose, and means are provided (not shown in the drawings) and placed within reach of the occupant of the seat to release the snstainingdevice and allow the free end of the catch-pan to drop and discharge any matter collected thereon. The catch-pan is in position to receive and hold the solid matter from the hopper and is perforated to allow any liquid matter falling thereon to pass through. Near the hinged end of the pan is shown a larger opening 9 in line with the usual course of urine, which allows this liquid to pass and drop below the eatclrpan. Located beneath the pan is shown a trough 10, running under the pan and hopper and located in position to receive the liquid matter from the hoppers and pan. This trough is hung upon a journaled rod or bar 11, so that by turning the rod the trough is rotated to any required distance and may even be turned upside down, which sometimes occurs when a general burning out of the interior of the receptacle and its parts is necessary or desired. I Upon the bottom of the receptacle I have erected the fine or channel 12 and have providedit with a concave top or cover 13. The front end of this cover is provided with a grating 14 or is otherwise perforated. A fire may be built upon this grating, if so desired, its heat escaping direct through the chimney 15. A sliding plate 16 is arranged to cover this grating, and when so closed the fire is built in the flue 12. The heat is thus forced through the flue around and above its rear end and is drawn by the chimney-draft through the receptacle over the troughs and under the catch-pans, carrying olii' the noxious odors and gases and burning them in its passage in passing to the chimney. The urinals 17 are arranged to enter the side of the chimney and discharge into the troughs 10. The seats are always closed except when in actual use and are arranged to be held up by the back of the occupant when seated, and when released they fall by gravity and remain closed. Thus while it is possible for air from without to enter the receptacle it is impossible to escape except through the chimney. When the free end of the catch-pan is dropped by the occupant of a seat, the matter thereon is discharged upon the concave cover of the flue 10 and thereon desiccated and burned. While the pans remain suspended, they protect the occupant of the seat from discomfort which might be caused by the heat from below. As the heat from the fire is drawn to the chimney it evaporates the liquid in the troughs and carries it off, and when the troughs are rotated any remaining matter adhering thereto will be burned by the heat from the fire. Such air as may be drawn into the receptacle through the holes 6 in the hopper is carried off through the chimney. A general purification and burning out of the receptacle and the devices therein may be had by dropping down the free ends of the catch-pans, turning over the troughs, and building a good hot fire in the flue. The heat will thus reach all the parts located within the receptacle and burn out the deleterious matter therein. Suitably located outside of the receptacle is the floor 18. This floor is provided with the hinged extension 19, which may be turned up or let down and when down should be provided with suitable supportssuch, for example, as shown at 20. A stair is provided for entrance, as shown at 21. Between the hoppers are shown the partitions 22, which divide the latrine into separate compartments. These partitions are cut out near the fioor, as shown at 23, which arrangement forms a socket into which the urinals when taken down may be placed and the hinged extension 19 of the fioor turned up to cover them.

The chimney 15 is hinged at 2 1 and is provided with telescopic extensions 25 and 26. As thus arranged, the chimney when not in use may be turned down and lie horizontally over the partitions, which are grooved at the top to receive it, as shown at 27, Figs. 3 and 4c. In such case the extensions are shoved inside; but when the chimney stands upright at work these extensions are drawn out to lengthen it and increase the draft. Garbage and other waste matter may be thrown into the hoppers and treated as above described. When in use, the whole apparatus is provided with a suitable cover, and for this purpose a frame of wood, gas-pipe, or other material 28 is provided and properly erected. Over this frame a cover of canvas may be thrown, and when the wagon is moved the framework is taken down, the long rods thereof are run 5 through the holes 29 in the wagon-frame, and

the whole apparatus is ready for removal.

hat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a portable evaporating-closet a receptacle mounted upon a movable body, the receptacle provided with openings, and seathoppers arranged over said openings, in combination with a device arranged below the hopper adapted to catch the solid matter and allow the liquid matter to escape, a trough below said device to catch and retain the escaping liquid, means for discharging the solid matter from the catching device, means for receiving it when discharged, a floor suitably arranged for an occupant of the seat, a heating-fioor to catch the solid matter when discharged and means for heating the floor, partitions located between the seats, hollowed out at the top and hinged chimney for inducing a draft from the fire in the receptacle when standing upright, and to lie in the grooves of the partitions when turned down.

2. In a portable evaporating-closet a receptacle mounted upon a movable body, the receptacle provided with openings, and seathoppers over said openings, in combination with a device located below the hopper to retain the solid matter and allow the liquid to escape, a trough below said device to catch and retain the escaping liquid, means for discharging the solid matter, a heating-floor to receive it when discharged, means for maintaining a fire beneath the heating-floor, a chimney provided with telescopic extensions to increase or diminish the draft through the receptacles, urinals discharging within the chimney and into the troughs and arranged to be dismounted, and partitions located between the seat-hoppers, cutout below to receive the urinals when dismounted.

3. In a portable evaporating-closet a closed receptacle mounted upon a movable body and provided with openings and seat-hoppers arranged over the openings incombination with devices within the receptacle, to catch and retain the solid and liquid matter discharged through the seat-hoppers, means for evaporating the liquid and desiccating the solid matter in the receptacle, a floor arranged below the seat provided with a hinged extension adapted to be folded or let down as required and a hinged chimney adapted to be lowered and folded to lie above the seats.

In testimony whereof I, FRED P. SMITH, have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 26th day of March, 1903.

FRED P. SMITH.

Witnesses:

M. TURNER, JOHN H. DUVALL. 

